Decadent Chocolate Cupcakes with Ganache & Raspberry Buttercream

We never used to be self-proclaimed cupcake lovers. But a doctored up cake mix with some ganache and raspberry buttercream changes EVERYTHING!!!!!

Decadent chocolate cupcakes, topped with ganache and then raspberry buttercream - oh boy! These are to.die.for!

These were a fun baby-girl shower treat for one of my friends baby shower's, but they are great for Valentines Day, or any other special on non-special ;) occasion! 

We're sharing the recipe on Or So She Says ---- CLICK HERE TO GET THE PRINTABLE! 

Ganache Filled Raspberries

 

Ganache is one of my weaknesses.  It's so rich, creamy and dreamy I could just die!  Have you ever had it?  I love it in these berries, and also as a filling in French macarons. spread on a graham cracker - and I'm sure there are thousands of other ways to enjoy it.   It's simply divine.  

Last year I shared my favorite homemade hot fudge sauce with you - and I topped my hot fudge sundae with these delicious ganache filled raspberries.  I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Mmmm, seriously good!

  

These filled raspberries are perfectly wonderful on their own, in fact I think that's the way I'd prefer them.  But they really can fancy up any dessert or ice cream sundae you might be dreaming up.  I thought they'd be perfect to share before Valentines day.  

I hope you can enjoy them soon! 

Xo,

Lu

Ganache Filled Raspberries

these are a fun treat by themselves of they make a pretty garnish

on desserts or ice cream sundaes

PRINTABLE VERSION {CLICK HERE}

Ingredients:

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1-2 dry pints fresh raspberries

For the Ganache:

¾ cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon butter

dash of sea salt

9 oz bittersweet chocolate (chips OR a bar chopped into small chunks)

Directions:

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Gently wash raspberries and lay to dry on a pile of paper towels. While they are drying make ganache.

For the ganache: Place the chocolate pieces in a stainless steel bowl.  In a small sauce pan heat the cream, butter and salt over medium-high heat . Bring to a boil.  Pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes.  Stir until smooth.  Place smooth, warm ganache in a plastic bag (and cut one small corner of the bag off to use as a piping bag) or piping bag with round tip.  

Squeeze the ganache into the raspberries and let them set up.  I think these are best fresh.  If you refrigerate them the chocolate will harden.  I personally like the ganache to be soft - it matches the texture of the raspberries. So if you make these ahead of time and want to refrigerate - allow time for them to soften at room temperature before eating.  

Recipe Source:

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Recipe by, Lu.  Ganache recipe adapted from Annie’s Eats.

Here is the recipe for the HOMEMADE HOT FUDGE SAUCE:

"I'm Squeezable" Valentines {& Candy-Free Valentine Round-Up}

*Sidenote: Don't forget to enter our giveaway going on right now.   A winner will be chosen next Monday. :)

My one year old daughter loves these fruit pouches. So when I was s hopping at Smith's (our local Kroger store) and saw this new item of  "I'm Squeezable" applesauce pouches, I immediate thought they'd make adorable valentines (you could easily use any other apple sauce pouch, like GoGo Squeeze or any other brand).  My 4 year old is having a Valentine party for her preschool this week and I thought these were perfect. I'm all about a valentine that doesn't have any candy involved. I figure kids get enough candy that this "healthy" little applesauce snack/valentine was just what we wanted to give this year. Anyone else with me about the too much candy? Or am I just a grump about it?  

Anyhow, since the packaging said, "I'm squeezable" and thought that was too cute and had to incorporate it into a little tag for the fruit pouch.  

These were super simple to make - and should be even more so for you since I have included a free printable. :) I printed the tags on some Kraft card stock and then my daughter and I glued them on to some colored card stock and punched holes in the top and tied them on with some twine.  Simple and fast, and NO CANDY! :)  Below you can find links for a color and black and white version of the printable. 

We left the back blank so my daughter could write TO: and FROM: to each of her preschool pals.  I love her cute, big handwriting!  

Here is the COLOR version of the Printable 

Here is the BLACK & WHITE version of the Printable

Here are some other Candy-Free Valentines that I've found recently and loved. Enjoy!

Christine, from I Dig Pinterest had a fun bunch of homemade Valentines last week, and I especially loved her Perler Bead Valentines.

 Blowing You Kisses from Our Best Bites

These could be made candy free if you just put some lipstick on your 

kid and let them kiss the paper instead of using kisses candy.  

You are the Apple of My Eye Valentines (from our blog)

Fruit Valentines from Alpha Mom

I'm a LUCKY DUCK to have you as a friend from Formula Mom

Heart-Shaped Pizza {with picture tutorial}

*FYI-stay tuned for this Friday for our first GIVEAWAY, you won't want to miss it!*

Valentines Day hasn't been much about romance for us as it has been about fun - it started this way when we were kids.  Our mom is a mathematician and very creative! She would always help us make fun valentine boxes to take to our classes at school.  She made a giant heart shaped cookie every year, and sometimes we had heart shaped pizza.  

A few weeks ago we shared a 4 part series on Pizza.  We shared our favorite pizza tools, our favorite dough and how to make the perfect crust, a favorite homemade sauce, and some of our favorite pizza toppings.  We've used the same pizza dough to make this fun heart shaped pizza and we shared it over at landeelu.com a few weeks ago.  We went all out and even topped it with fun heart shaped pepperoni.  If you aren't a pepperoni fan, use ham (or cut some veggies like hearts), or the heart shaped crust will be fancy enough, right?  

I even made some salad with heart shaped carrots to go with the pizza.  

Get your dough - recipe below 

Start rolling....

..and pulling and shaping into a heart shape. 

 

Keep going down to see more pictures of how we did the pepperoni. 

Perfect Pizza Dough

Printable Version {Click Here}

Ingredients:

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1 1/2 cups warm water

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon instant yeast

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 - 3 1/2 cups flour (bread flour or all purpose both work great here)

Directions:

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In mixing bowl add warm water, sugar and instant yeast. Let sit for 3 minutes or so until sugar and yeast are softened. Since it's instant yeast there is really no need to let it proof like regular yeast (if all you have is regular yeast - let it sit for 5 minutes or so until it's slightly bubbly).

Add salt, oil, and flour and knead in mixer for 3 minutes or by hand for 5-8 minutes. You want the dough to pull away from the sides of the bowl or counter (just don't over flour the dough or it will turn out a little dry and chewy). You'll know the dough is floured well when it pulls from the sides and still has a slight tacky touch to it.

Let dough rest for 10 minutes. Divide dough in two. Makes two 12-14 inch (medium-sized) pizza crusts.  Roll into a circle and bake on pizza pan or stone at 500 degrees F for 6-12 minutes with desired sauce, cheese,  and toppings. It’s done when lightly browned and cheese is bubbly.  (The cooking time varies greatly with the thickness of the rolled dough and your oven, so keep a close eye on it the first time and adjust from there if necessary.)

Notes:

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This dough freezes great. I freeze it in quart freezer bags with enough dough for one crust.  Move from fridge to freezer the morning of or night before you plan to use it.  Remove from fridge 30 minutes to an hour before rolling out to allow dough to come to room temperature.  .

Recipe Source:

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Adapted from Diana King’s Breadstick recipe (originally posted at landeelu.com)

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Once the dough is shaped, spread it on your favorite sauce, and top with cheese and if you'd like some heart shaped pepperoni (see picture tutorial below). 

Bake (recipe above) and enjoy!  This is what we like to call "Lovin' from the Oven"!

Happy Valentines Day! 

-Leesh & Lu

 

Pinterest friendly image: 

Apple of My Eye - Valentines {& other Valentine Ideas}

My daughter and I made some Valentines for her preschool class, and I was just tickled that we happened to have these Mike Wasowski apple juice boxes, because they fit the saying, "You are the APPLE of my EYE", just perfectly.  

I don't think there is much explaning to do on how to make this, it was easy-peasy!  And I was happy to not be handing out more candy....we get too much of that around here! 

I also wanted to share some other Valentine treat ideas that have already been posted on the blog.  Feel free to look through these ideas and for other dessert and dinner ideas for your Valentine!

Lots of LOVE!  

Lu

Mile High Pie, is a family favorite. And it's even pink from the strawberries in it!  It's a light and airy dessert that will please anyone.  Click here for the recipe. 

 Classic Homemade Oreo's with heart sprinkles and pink or white frosting 

for a Valentine's touch.

 Peanut Butter & Chocolate say "I LOVE YOU" to me! These are a favorite! 

Creamy Peanut Butter Truffles

Nothing says "I LOVE YOU" like a Giant Heart Shaped Cookie!

 And if a GIANT heart is too much for you, I think a GIANT cookie will also say "I LOVE YOU" just fine. 

These Chocolate Curls {a how-to} are the perfect topping to a 

favorite dessert or cake! 

They add the perfect LOVEly touch for a special Valentines day! 

s

Need a gift for your loved one?  These Deluxe Chocolate Truffles are a lovely homemade treat!

Heart-Shaped Pan Cookie {Giant Valentine Cookie}

My mom.  I wonder how many of my posts start out like that.  Obviously she has heavily influenced my cooking and baking.  Anyway....my mom used to bake up lots of these giant cookies for friends, neighbors, and my dad every year for Valentine's day.  It was a such a fun tradition and how could you not love someone who made such a cute, delectable treat for you?  So when I saw a heart-shaped pan at Ross last weekend, I had to have it for obvious reasons.  

I'm not sure if I'll ever grow out of making Valentines for my friends.  I guess it makes me still feel like I'm in 3rd grade, which I kind of miss some days.  Something about this holiday just gets me in the baking/crafty mood.  Last year I was in Utah for Valentines Day and my mom and sister and I made these fun little chocolate boxes.  Last week, the little man and I stapled together this fun heart garland.  Last night, when I asked little man to come help me make dinner, he started crying and said, "No.  I make cookies right now mommy."   I don't really like when he pulls out the right now on me, but I had to laugh because I don't know that many 2-year-olds that are so insistent on making cookies regularly.  This little man is a cookie monster just like his mama.  While our chicken was in the oven, we whipped up one of these babies.  It was fun and nostalgic and the little man tasted the cookie dough a few too many times to give this one away, so we kept it.  And we've been eating it all day.  

Heart-Shaped Pan Cookie {Giant Valentine Cookie}
Printable Version

Ingredients:

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1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 ½ - 1 ¾ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided

Directions:

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Preheat oven to 375 (350 If using a dark, glass, or nonstick pan).  Grease and wax paper-line 8 1/2 or 9-inch heart-shaped pan (or use a round or square pan if that’s what you’ve got).   
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in egg. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in 1 cup morsels; spread into prepared pan.
Bake for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and leaving a border around the cookie, immediately sprinkle remaining chocolate chips in a heart shape.  Allow chocolate chips to get shiny and melty for 2-3 minutes before spreading over cookie.  (The back of a spoon worked great for my spreader)  Add any fun or festive sprinkles, if desired, while chocolate is melted.  Allow cookie to cool and chocolate topping to set up before removing from pan (this will take several hours).  

Notes:

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If you are worried about getting your cookie out of the pan or need to use the pan again before the chocolate is completely set up then follow the original recipe directions for cooling and the chocolate chip topping:
Let cool in pan for 10 minutes; remove to wire rack to cool completely.  Microwave remaining morsels in small, microwave-safe bowl on MEDIUM-HIGH (70%) power for 1 minute; stir. Morsels may retain some of their shape. If necessary, microwave at additional 10- to 15-second intervals, stirring until melted; spread over cookie.

This would also be super cute with these valentine morsels in the dough. Toll house used to make a raspberry semi-sweet swirled morsel that it is really tasty with as well. Maybe they are just seasonal or something, but I haven't seen them lately.  

Recipe Source:

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My mom, via Better Homes and Gardens Magazine, February 1995. Also available here.